Vanilla Twilight
by Jessica Mitch
Summary: Daltonverse: What if Evan and Ethan still remembered Derek, even after Dwight's spell? What if they didn't lose their memories like they were supposed to? A Hanover Boy one-shot.


Hi there. So a little plot bunny has been attacking me when I regretted using Once Upon a December as Derek's song and not Vanilla Twilight. And I know this may be confusing. But I needed to write this. Did I have to post it? I didn't have to but I wanted to. No one's exactly making fanfiction for my story so I made a fanfic based on my fanfic (that was based on a Glee fanfic) if that's not FANFICCEPTION I don't know what is. I hope you enjoy this. Also, to those who know about it, I'm done with the first chapter of my new story and it'll be posted sometime tomorrow or next week.

Love lots

P.S. This is SO AU. Just because it's from the same author, doesn't mean it's canon.

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><p>The twins remembered. Everyone did. Apparently, being near the blue light meant that they got to keep the memories of the departed. It's been months since Derek disappeared from their lives and living through it was very hard. Just like Dwight said, everything about the Hanover boy seemed to have been wiped off the face of the Earth. Breaking Bookstore didn't exist. Terry had Jeff for a roommate. Hanover was as quiet as before. None of them even had a picture of him. It was very saddening. But as the months passed, they learned to move on, or at least they tried to. Without Derek, days felt the slightest bit empty.<p>

Terry missed the smell of books in their dorm room.

Merril missed the noise Derek seemed to create for the whole house.

Julian missed Derek badgering him about him and Logan.

Reed missed Derek being his friend.

The twins missed having fun with Derek.

The twins took it the hardest. But they continued on like nothing was wrong. They threw pranks. They pestered Chaz. They pestered Dalton. They knew that Derek would be very disappointed if they lost their muchness. Besides, it wasn't like them to be sad, it was unnatural and wrong. But time to time, they would visit Reed in his room and talk about the lost friend. Time to time, they would stare at the empty space between them and wonder what Derek was up to.

It was one of those nights.

Ethan's hand ran down the length of the empty expanse of bed that Derek used to frequent. "I miss him."

"I miss him too, Ethan." Evan sighed and grabbed his brother's hand. "But… We know he's not coming back."

Ethan nodded. "I wonder how he is."

"I bet he's attacking everyone with his books." Evan allowed himself a big grin, Ethan did the same.

"And Nerf guns, I'm sure we've taught him well."

"Yes, we have."

"I hope he's happy." The twins sighed and lied back down on their bed, still holding hands. They closed their eyes and thought of their little Rose. They kept on imagining him being happy, unlike they were during these nights. They liked to think that Derek was doing fine with life, wherever he was.

_The stars lean down to kiss you_

_And I lie awake and miss you_

_Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere_

Their icy blue eyes opened and looked at each other with a small smile. They had developed a habit of singing songs that reminded them of Derek when they felt extra down. Songs always managed to make them feel a little better before going to sleep. Ethan continued the second verse.

_'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly_

_But I'll miss your arms around me_

_I'd send a postcard to you, dear_

_'Cause I wish you were here_

It didn't matter if they were being loud or not. The room was big and their voices would go to the night before anyone woke up because of them. Evan and Ethan tugged at each other's hands and scooted closer to each other. The night was very quiet, except for them. And another couple of people…

_I'll watch the night turn light-blue_

_But it's not the same without you_

_Because it takes two to whisper quietly_

Derek woke up immediately to two familiar voices singing. _Ethan? Evan?_ He felt Nate shift beside him and mumble something incoherently. They had slept together in Nate's room. He came over to hang out and a blizzard appeared out of nowhere that February night. Nate's parents decided to let him stay the night. They also had no inhibitions whatsoever having Derek sleep in Nate's room. They were quite excited about it, actually, much to Nate's utter embarrassment. Derek thought it was adorable.

_The silence isn't so bad_

_'Til I look at my hands and feel sad_

_'Cause the spaces between my fingers_

_Are right where yours fit perfectly_

Was he hallucinating? Was he really hearing the twins _now_ after so many months of being apart? Was he really that tired? Did he go crazy due to supressed sadness?

_I'll find repose in new ways_

_Though I haven't slept in two days_

_'Cause cold nostalgia_

_Chills me to the bone_

_One way to find out._ He thought.

He carefully took Nate's arm off of him and slipped out of bed. He glanced at his boyfriend's sleeping form. He smiled affectionately, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Mmm, Derek… Love you."

"I love you too." Derek whispered and searched for the voices.

_But drenched in vanilla twilight_

_I'll sit on the front porch all night_

_Waist-deep in thought because_

_When I think of you I don't feel so alone_

He looked out of the window but there was no one. He opened Nate's door to the hallway, but there was no one there either. "Evan? Ethan?" He whispered but no one answered. But the singing was slightly louder in the hallway, so he stepped outside and closed the door behind him. He tried to keep his steps quiet as he walked.

_I don't feel so alone, I don't feel so alone_

It came from the bathroom. Derek walked towards it and almost grabbed the doorknob before he thought about it.

_Maybe I am crazy._ He chuckled to himself and turned the knob. The singing was louder inside.

_As many times as I blink_

_I'll think of you tonight_

Derek closed the door and turned on the bathroom light. It just flickered for a second and it was dark again. He whimpered quietly and stepped forward blindly. His steps echoed unexpectedly. It wasn't like the bathroom was huge enough to make things echo, right?

_I'll think of you tonight_

Suddenly, he noticed the faint light on the other side of the room. He felt his heart pound against his chest with excitement since the bathroom in Nate's house just had one door in it. Derek walked faster towards the little crack of dim light that encircled a door.

_When violet eyes get brighter_

_And heavy wings grow lighter_

He had started to sing with them, with every step they sounded louder. Realer. He wasn't crazy. He wanted to leap for joy, no matter how long he could stay, just as long as he could see the twins just one more time.

_I'll taste the sky and feel alive again_

Their eyes flew open and they sat up slowly from their bed. Someone sang with them with a voice they didn't think they'd hear for the rest of their life. They continued singing tentatively, wondering if they had truly gone mad but they didn't want to stop at the same time, in fear of losing the other's voice.

_And I'll forget the world that I knew_

_But I swear I won't forget you_

The bathroom door flew open and Derek stepped out of the darkness with pyjama pants that were a little longer to be his and the shirt he wore the day before. Tears sprang out his eyes when he saw the Tweedles again. A mixture of shock and happiness came across the two identical faces, like they couldn't decide which emotion to use. Derek grinned so broadly that it started to actually hurt. He spread his arms open and sang.

_Oh, if my voice could reach_

_Back through the past_

_I'd whisper in your ear_

Evan and Ethan jumped up from their bed and tacked Derek into a very tight hug. They didn't want to let go. For the first time in a long time, the twins started to cry. But only a little bit. Derek hugged them tightly and sobbed against Ethan's chest.

"We missed you!"

"So _much_!"

"Dalton's almost boring without you."

"We miss your kisses."

"We missed your hugs."

"We missed your voice."

"We missed you."

"And your muchness."

"We love you, Rose."

"How did you come back?"

"Are you okay?"

Derek just wanted to laugh hysterically; they couldn't really be expecting him to answer them right at that moment. They were talking too fast for him to catch the question before they put in another question. They pulled him into bed, back to his place and snuggled with him. He felt a sort of relief when they loosened their grip. He could barely breathe when they crushed him into that hug.

He turned to kiss Ethan, and then he kissed Evan. It felt wonderful to kiss again. They kissed some more.

_Is this cheating?_ Derek suddenly thought. But he pushed that thought away. _Whatever, I'm in another dimension._

"I love you, Evan, Ethan." Derek whispered. "…You remember."

"Yes, it's quite horrible actually." They winced.

"But hey, we told you we won't forget. That must count for something, right?" Derek actually chuckled at that one. "So how is our little Rose?" They laid on their stomachs and propped themselves up with their elbows. He stared into their expectant blue eyes and sighed. "What is it?"

"Nothing… It's just really weird to be here now." Derek smiled and kissed them again. "I'm fine… I guess you can say that. I admit that I was a wreck the first couple of months." They frowned the slightest bit and kissed his cheeks.

"Anything new?" Evan asked.

"Not much, same old same old. I got a bit taller."

"We noticed." They chuckled.

He rolled his eyes playfully.

"Any boyfriends back there?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." Derek answered sheepishly. "He reads Dalton. He likes you two… I'm sorry."

The twins looked at each other, both feeling sad but they nodded at each other. They grinned back to Derek. "It's fine, Rose."

"Just as long as he's treating you right."

"Is he?"

Derek nodded. "Good." They said and snuggled up to him. They talked for the rest of the night. The twins weren't showing any sign of tiring down, and neither was Derek. They talked about Dalton, but not so much, since Derek already knew what happened thanks to one writer. They talked about Derek's life, and he tried to get a lot of words out before Ethan or Evan would interrupt him with a kiss. At some point, they took pictures of each other twin the twins' camera. They took out a tub of ice cream from Windsor's fridge. Then took some more pictures and a video.

"Everyone's going to be so pissed when we tell them that Derek was here," Evan laughed as he uploaded the pictures to the computer, "and we didn't tell them."

"Do you think we should?" Derek asked.

The twins shook their heads. "You're ours; we're not sharing you right now." Ethan pulled Derek onto his lap and kissed him quickly, making Derek giggle.

Time didn't matter. They didn't know how long Derek could stay but they weren't taking any chances with sleeping. So they talked and talked, cuddled and cuddled, and kissed and kissed for hours until the sun came up.

Then… the sun came up.

Derek started fading away, very slowly. His fingers and toes were gone. He sighed. "I guess that's all the time that we have."

They laughed, despite themselves.

"Well, on the bright side, it looks like it's not in any hurry." Evan said.

"Let's go to sleep then." Ethan added and they pulled the covers over each other. Derek closed his eyes, suddenly feeling tired.

"I had fun, you two." Derek whispered.

"Us too." They hugged him tighter. "We'll miss you."

"I'm glad you have pictures of me now." Derek smiled and the twins kissed him again. Ethan pulled on Derek's waistband and tucked a couple of photos that they printed for Derek and they snuggled together.

They fell asleep happily.

Derek disappeared two hours later, leaving the twin's hands on top of each other's. When they woke up they sighed when Derek wasn't there anymore. They kissed each other quickly, just to taste whatever Derek's taste was left on both of them. But it wasn't the same. They smiled though, because they spent their night with their Rose. They wanted him to stay, of course, but that night was good enough to last them a long, long time. And they had pictures and a video to remember it by.

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><p>Nate whistled a tune over the frying pan as he scooped up the omelette he was making. They were snowed in but the sun shined brighter than he's seen it shine the whole month.<p>

"Mm, that smells heavenly!" Nicole Prynce entered the kitchen and leaned on the counter to smile at her son. "Had fun last night?" She giggled.

Nate groaned. "Mom, we just slept –"

"In each other's arms." She interrupted. "And it was all _la-di-da_ gay heaven."

"I swear, if Hannah grows up to be just like you, I'm going to impale myself." He said as he smeared butter on the toast. His mom just laughed. Dale, his father, came in as well and helped himself with a piece of toast. "Hey! That's for Derek."

"My house, my food." He chuckled. "Are you trying to fatten him up so we can eat him?"

"No, Dad." Nate shook his head incredulously. "This is our breakfast. I'm taking it up to the room so you wouldn't scare him off."

"If I was a regular mom, I would've kicked you out by now." His mom said.

"Ah, but you aren't." Nate smirked and put the plates of toast and omelette, as well as the forks, onto a folding tray table.

"Don't you look just adorable, making him breakfast?" She sighed. "Our little boy's growing up."

"Yeah, soon, it'll be Hannah." His dad put an arm around his wife and she leaned on his shoulder. Nate poured warm tea into Derek's mug and placed it beside the glass of orange juice for himself.

"Try not to come and check on us." Nate grinned and hauled the tray up in the air. "Please."

"Alright, alright." His dad said with hands up in the air. "We surrender, we'll give up on being the over enthusiastic PFLAG parents for today."

"But rest assured that we'll be back to normal tomorrow." His mother kissed his cheek and patted it before he went up the stairs and into his room.

Derek was still fast asleep as he placed the tray on his bedside table. He almost didn't want to wake him up. He allowed himself to stare at his boyfriend with wonder. The smaller boy was bathed in the morning sunlight, making him look so beautiful. Nate walked over to Derek's side of the bed and knelt in front of him. "Hey." He whispered. Derek's eyes fluttered open and he smiled a small smile. "Good morning." What Nate didn't know was that Derek was a little bit disappointed that he didn't wake up with the twins. He clutched the photos on the side band of the pyjamas he was wearing and planned on where to hide it. But he had to admit, Nate smiling down at him with his braces was a sight to see when he woke up. "I hope you don't mind breakfast in bed."

"Nope. No I don't." Derek quickly pulled his jeans from under the bed and stuffed the pictures there while Nate's back was turned. He felt an ache that came from knowing that last night wasn't just a random dream. It was real and they remembered him. They still loved him. He still loved them, to some extent. They seemed happy that Derek moved on. They were just glad that he wasn't hurting as bad as before. When he had talked about Nate, they seemed to approve. That was a good thing. He wanted to go back though.

Nate put the tray table in front of Derek and sat across him. Derek's mouth watered when he saw the big omelette and the toast. He took the mug of tea and sipped a little bit. Nate was still smiling at him. "What?"

"You look beautiful in the morning." Nate said. Derek blushed.

"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend." Derek shook head and took another ship of the tea.

"Well, kind of, yeah. It's like my job." Nate chuckled and leaned over to kiss Derek. "Dig in, Rose." He said after the kiss.

Derek smiled. "You know, presentation is practically _10%_ of the whole meal."


End file.
